The use of antiseptic for sterilization while making connections in CAPD and similar procedures is broadly used with the Beta-Cap of the Quinton Instrument Company, which is a closure for the end of a CAPD catheter. The tubing adjacent the closure is clamped from the outside. The tube end is filled with a liquid antiseptic, for example the well known providone iodine, and the cap is placed on the end of the catheter. To open the catheter, the cap is removed; the antiseptic is drained out; and the connection is made.
Throner U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,603 teaches medical apparatus in which antiseptic is metered to a flow line to provide an antiseptic barrier to suppress microorganism growth in the material, which is typically a body waste being drained from the body.
Also there is a process in wide-spread commercial use to sterilize the inside of packages containing surgical dressings and a wide variety of medical products, using ethylene oxide gas. The ethylene oxide gas diffuses through a porous section of the package containing the product. This porous section prevents the passage of bacteria into the package, but allows passage of ethylene oxide gas into the package, to sterilize the package contents.
Schlesinger U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,752 discloses a catheter guard for fitting around a catheter having a sponge portion which may be impregnated with an antibacterial agent so that retrograde contamination of bacteria about the outside surface of the catheter into the patient is prevented.
Mount U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,727 discloses a drainage tube for body fluids provided with filtering means coated with a antibacterial material.
Alexander et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,013 discloses a flexible chamber into which the two conduits for connection are inserted, and antiseptic fluid is added to bathe the two conduit ends prior to bringing the two conduit ends together into connecting relation.
Greff et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,310 discloses sterile connection apparatus in which a sealed box is provided with a rubber glove member attached so that connectors on the ends of a pair of conduits may be manually sterilized within the box prior to connection.
In the article by Yee et al. entitled "Use of Povidone Iodine in Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) A Technique to Reduce the Incidence of Infectious Peritonitis" Volume 26 Trans Am. Soc. Artif. Inter. Organs pp. 223-224, 1980, the use of povidone iodine as a sterilizing agent in making connections with the dialysis solution bag in CAPD is taught. A small, flexible bulb just below the spike is provided to permit aspiration of povidone iodine into the line during dialysis solution bag exchanges.
By this invention, significant improvements are provided in the joining of conduits together by means of connectors, where the closest possible approach to absolute sterility is obtained, but at the same time the patient can be protected from any toxic effect of the antiseptic.